Can Muslims be friends with Jews and Christians?

O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for your allies: they are but allies of one another and whoever of you allies himself with them becomes, verily, one of them; behold, God does not guide people who are unjust. (Quran 5:51)

This verse is often quoted to show that Islam is intolerant.

Quran is a complete book of guidance and while studying various issues it should be kept in mind that a particular issue may be discussed over several chapters or several verses in the same chapter. A complete understanding can only be achieved by understanding the whole issue as presented over all the verses and chapters and not by looking at only part of the Quran. God specifically warns us against doing just that, upholding part of the Quran while disregarding the rest.

.. Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do you reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life? - and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For God is not unmindful of what ye do. (Quran 2:85)

To understand the issue of befriending the Jews, Christians or people of any other faith, we have to study all the concerned verses from the Quran collectively.

Let us look at some other verses about this issue. The following two verses regulate relations with any people, regardless of faith:

As for such [of the unbelievers] as do not fight against you on account of [your] faith, and neither drive you forth from your homelands, God does not forbid you to show them kindness and to behave towards them with full equity: for, verily, God loves those who act equitably. (Quran 60:8)

God only forbids you to turn in friendship towards such as fight against you because of [your] faith, and drive you forth from your homelands, or aid [others] in driving you forth: and as for those [from among you] who turn towards them in friendship; it is they, they who are truly wrongdoers! (Quran 60:9)

From the above verses, we learn that we are only discouraged from befriending those who fight Muslims because of their religion. Now let's go back to the verse immediately after 5:51, to see if it sheds some further light on the issue.

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And yet you can not see how those in whose hearts there is disease vie with one another for their good will (the hostile Jews and Christians), saying [to themselves], "We do fear lest a change of fortune bring us disaster." But God may well bring about good fortune [for the believers] or any [other] event of His own devising, whereupon those [waverers] will be smitten with remorse for the thoughts which they had secretly harboured within themselves- (Quran 5:52)

During the time of the Prophet when the Jews and Christians were in open conflict with the Muslims, there were some Muslims who were more concerned about maintaining there alliances with the Jews and Christians at the expense of the Muslim community. The above verse is referring to such situations where Muslims with doubts in their hearts will ally themselves with the enemy.

Chapter 5 Verse 57 of the Quran makes it clear again, who are not to be taken as friends; O you who believe! take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery or sport,- whether among those who received the Scripture before you, or among those who reject Faith; but remain conscious of God, if you are (truly) believers. (Quran 5:57)

God teaches us throughout the Quran that there are righteous Jews and Christians. As such there is no prohibition for Muslims to be friends with Jews, Christians or people of any other faith who are of good character.

Quranic verses referring to the righteous Jews and Christians:

Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth. (Quran 7:159)

And We caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those (earlier prophets), confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah; and We sent him the Gospel, wherein there was guidance and light, confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah, and as a guidance and admonition unto the God-conscious. (Quran 5:46)

Verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds-shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62)

Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of God all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in God and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. (Quran 3:113-114)

And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book, those who believe in God, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to God. They will not sell the Signs of God for a miserable gain! For them is a reward with their Lord, and God is swift in account. (Quran 3:199)

The following verse from the Quran capsulates this issue:

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise (each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (Quran 49:13)

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You are doing what Muslim apologists always do, take the quran out of context. The peaceful quotes you make were all abrogated by

“So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them.” – Quran 9:5
This was one of the final revelation and commands Muslims to fight the infidel.

I like this. I have to go over it again. Although there are differences between the faiths all 3 share enough common ground to share friendships, faithful discussions, and even share prayer time. Over the centuries much has been maligned in all our Holy Books and used by haters as a wedge to create discourse between the 3 of us. Most of the entries I find the most curious are the ones dealing with faith, righteous and obedience at that point the differences seem to melt away. The Tawrah or Torah or 1st 5books of my Old Testament, the Zabur the 52 Psalms of David and in some cases the parts of Isaiah dealing with King David, carry the justness example plus the righteousness of God's Law Between all 3 faiths is a level playing field (if I can say that). With the Injil providing redemption for "ALL" who choose to believe which also included the Messianic Jews. Interestingly Injil translated from Arabic and the Gospel (1st-4books of my New Testament) translated from Koine Greek both mean Good News. The only real stumbling block between all three is the notion of the Trinity but like all precepts in any religion if you don't full understand it DON'T DISCUSS IT. If God (Allah) wants you to understand something, he will give you the true understanding. There is no middle ground on that.

As a revert to Islam of almost 20 years now, and former devout Christian, it has always astonished me why Muslims feel the need to cowtow to their Christian and Jewish counterparts. I spent most of my child and young adulthood in an Evanglical church, where every sunday the Pastor preached the eternal damnation of anyone who is not a born-again Christian. Now, this doesn't mean that we have to war with other religions, and we know Islam doesn't sanction these suicide bombings and/or terrorism, but I do think it's a mistake to act like one of the tenets of our religion is to hold hands with those of other faiths!

We can live with the Christians and Jews peacefully, but this "farce" of interfaith dialogue proves what exactly??? At the end of the day, we are still marginalized by our beliefs, especially here in America. The Prophet Muhammad, the greatest exemplar of mankind, whom Allah says didn't speak out of his own desires but only revelation, encouraged his companions to distinguish themselves from non-Muslims in dress, character, business, family values, etc. Muhammad (SAWS) wanted to Muslim men and women to be distinguishable in evey aspect of life. The Jews and Christians rejected the books and Messengers that came before, which is why you rarely see either trying to learn the TRUTH about Islam except to ridicule or "demonize" our faith!

Quran 62:5 The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on is like that of a donkey who carries volumes [of books]. Wretched is the example of the people who deny the signs of Allah . And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

The Prophet (SAWS) said, "Surely you will follow the ways, of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e. inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you too would follow them," We said, "O Allah's Messenger! Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?" He replied, "Whom else?"

I saw him leave the store, the Deceiver, with his wife. He kept a somber face for about 60 seconds after he left the door; when he saw that no one could see him, but I could, he and his female companion or wife started to laugh in the earnest at the Human naivet and stupidity.

From the Perspective of believe in the Single God, a Jew or a Muslim could argue that it is OK to deceive a Trinitarian, since he or she have already deceived themselves into believing into Trinity vs the only Single God. This view would be the strongest amongst the Jews, since the Holy Spirit is in th Torah, but it simply means a Divine Inspiration or in Islamic religion it would mean the Will of Allah bestowed more upon someone with blessing of courage or, in simpler words, a blessing of the courage to carry out the Will of Allah.

I witnessed today a Deceiver do a superb work. Since a Christian has nothing to stand on (no pure source of knowledge), he has no choice, but to follow those who claim that the Almighty's one hand is tied behind his back.

He told those without the source that I am like Christian Version of Jesus. They did believe.

If I turn against the Christians, he will win by default. He will kill two birds with a single stone. However, I will not turn against Christians. I am superior to the Deceiver in my love of others amongst the People of the Book or Just Amongst the Nations.

He was spreading his fraud, today, on Sunday, 21OCT07, at Path Mark in Elizabeth, NJ, around 1645 or 4:45 pm, on the intersection of the Elmora Avenue and Grand Street.

I will not judge the Polytheists: the Hindu and others; I would have to be more understanding to those who are like the Hindus, amongst the believers in the Single God, and believe in Trinity. However, I cannot see a reason to ever excuse those who believe in the Single God: amongst others the Muslims, the Jews, or the Sikhs. Most especially, the Muslims and the Jews are beyond the excuse, since they know the Truth

An excellent beginning to progress towards western understanding of Islam and its tenets however, the article needs to be more in depth and I would have liked some commentary from both Islamic, Jewish,and Christian leaders. As a jew, I find it to be of great necessity that the conflict between Israelis and Palistinians is resolved and we begin this by having conversations and learning about each others beliefs and ideologies. Unfortunately, this conversation is too rare and perpetuates the ignorance that abounds on all sides and serves only to fuel our current conflicts. Good job on beginning the conversation.

The Quran is clear and our co-operation should be immediate.Allah distinguishes the good from the bad.We all are contact with people of other faiths and believes everyday.Our beloved Rasool Muhammad s.a.w. said that we should love the christians and jews as people but hate their lifestyles but today we hate our fellow human and love their lifestyle.We uphold parts of the Quran whilst disregarding the rest.May Allah remove the veil from our eyes insha'Allah.

I am not Moslem and I dont know well about Islam. I just have a question. What does " a Koffar " mean ??? Does this mean all non-muslims (including jews/christian) or it only means those who do not believe in The God of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad ??? Are 'people of the Book' (Jews,Christians,Sebain) Koffar too ?

Islam emphasizes that God is all-compassionate and all-merciful. The Last prophet (Mohammad pbuh) told us :-

"Allah the Almighty has said: O son Of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ASCRIBING NO PARTNER TO ME, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it." (at-Tirmidhi)

Imam Bukhari said - "Once a man, who was passing through a road, found a branch of a tree with thorns obstructing it. The man removed the thorns from the way. Allah thanked him and forgave his sins." (Bukhari)

A Jumaa-Sermon I had attended long time ago crosses my mind reading all these comments here. I dont remember the entire sermon but part of it included a story in which a KAFER prostitute was forgiven by God, because, passing by a panting dog near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she took off her shoe, and tying it with her robe she drew out some water for it. The Imam said this prostitute lady was no believer, she was a kafer. She never repented for her huge adulterous sin and died withour repentance in the state of Kuffar. But Islam says God will forgive her sin and grant her Paradise simply because she did that particular noble act. The Imam's point of the sermon was A Koffar without shirk can land in Jannah(paradise) for his/her good deeds while a muslim can go to Gehenna( Lake of blazing Fire) for his/her Kufri act or kufri thinking.

Therefore, we can only be sure that a moshrek without repentance will go to hell but we cannot be sure that a koffar will go to hell , becuz, God( all-compassionate and all-merciful) might pardon a koffar without shirk for his/her good/noble deeds.

First fo all, who among us will go to one of 7 havens and who will go to one of 8 hells, CANNOT be known by us humens before 'The day of judgement'. For every muslim, the target/goal/aim of this life should be to die in the state of al-Islam. Some muslims die in the state of al-Islam and some dont. But when a muslim dies, nobody or no Scholar of Islam can determine whether or not this muslim person died in the state of Islam. I know jews who are against zionism, in fact, I even know a rabbi who belives with certainty that Mohammad is moshiakh - 'The PROMISED HASHEM" prophecied to ancient jews. My neighbor was a roman catholic pastor in Torino Italy but now he does not believe in trinity, original sin !! He always claims he is christian but when he says Satan is not only a great tempter/seducer but also a great deciever, he explains that the present day christianity is not the real religion of Christ, that it is a cult of greeks and romans, a greco-roman fruitcake baked by the gteat deciever Satan, that the true religion of Christ disappeared from the face of earth which exist nomore. He thinks whoever believes modern-day christianity is the religion of Christ, is decieved and will be a sore loser on the 'Day of judgement'. He hates shirk, so, I think he might not die as a moshrek even though he is christian. Just because most christians are mushrik and most jews are satanic transgressors against their scripture, we should not say all jews/christians would go to heck. My point is :- it doesnt matter what LABEL a human had before death( Sebayin,Moslem,Jew,Christian,Agnostic,Buddist etc) , he/she might not have the same LABEL after death !! And we cannot know at what state a person dies regardless what his/her label was before death. God might forgive someone who died upon kufr or any other non-Shirk state because he/she did some noble good deeds but Islam says whoever dies in a state of Shirk - despite how much good deed he/she has done, will remain in hell forever.

Surah Al-Maidah has verses such as 5:47 "Let the people of the Injeel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, such are the Fasequn to Allah" or 5:48 "...To each among you (Jews, Christains and Muslims), we have prescribed a law and a clear way. If Allah had willed, he would have made you one nation ... so compete in good deeds. The return of you (all) is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ." In view of these verses one may await Allah's final verdict and not make premature pronouncements. As for taking patronage, we know that the Prophet had sent early Muslims to Ethiopia to be protected by the christian king. So strategies will vary depending on situation.

This verse explains it pretty well, the way Muslims need to act...Islam is a easy religion built on Hope and Mercy.

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise (each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (Quran 49:13)

First of all, a person known as 'a Muslim' might die as a Koffar or a Moshrek too. I assure you God almighty confirms at many places in holy Koran that a 'People of the Book' (Jew, Sabian, christian etc) will surely be rewarded Paradise if he/she believe and follow what was revealed to them and dont reject any of God's Messengers. The same thing applies to Moslems as well, according to Koran, a muslim must believe and follow the Koran (do righteous deed) and cannot reject any Prophet or previous message. If a muslim (or so-called muslim should I say) does not die in the state of al-Islam, will become a fuel of Gehenna - the blazing lake of fire. Imam Ali said that a human being is either your brother in religion or your brother in humanity. For example, if you find out your little bro is into drugs, would you not warn him OR you would not say anything to him in fear of how he might react or he might dislike you ? Non-muslims are our brothers in humanity, so we should warn both muslims and non-muslims about Shirk and Koffar and warning is NOT judging. Holy Koran states that those who created OUTRAGEOUS Lies against Jesus(Peace be upon him) and those who follow it, are not believers(followers of Jesus) and Jesus(pbuh) will be their opponent on the 'day of judgement'. I support brother Khorassani or any brother who tells the obvious truth - "Islam says, God will neverever forgive whoever dies as a Moshrek". Stating what Islam says is NOT judging, rather trying to save our fellow brothers/siters in humanity. Secondly, Islam is the fastest growing faith not for the image of muslim people but for a peaceloving honest person realise Islam is the ONLY untouched unchanged uncorrupted truth, despite he/she sees some muslim people's attitude. Native europeans and russians who are converting dont care at all how muslim people act but discovered what Islam is. Even if all muslims become wrong-doers, non-muslims will keep Islam the fastest growing faith of the worl

Anyone who dies in a state of shirk is destined for hell. This may not be PC to say, but this point of view is authenticated by the actions of the prophet (pbuh) - witness his pleading to his uncle on his death-bed to just say the shahada.

It is incorrect and wrong to state that all Christians and Jews or all Khuffar will go to hell. WHY?

Simply because we are not at the power to judge, secondly, Muslims have created such a horrendous image of Islam that why would a peace-loving honest person be compelled to join this faith when this post has clearly displayed the widespread close-mindedness, arrogance, and cocksure attitude of most Muslims. Being this Judgmental is stepping into sin

Both brothers 'Tarkan Sevelin' and 'Khaamer Kermani' is right. The Holy Koran does not include many events for which some sura's and verses of Koran were revealed. As a result, a muslim can misunderstand those suras and verses by reading the translation of it without reading the background behind those verses and suras. Now, brother Khaamer is correct that verse 5:51 mentioned in this article was a response to those weak-iman muslims who were seeking protection from some influential jews & christians after the battle of Uhod , rather than seeking protection from the REAL protector -ALLAH (Subhanautaa'la) - the protector and sustainer of the entire universe. I believe we muslims are allowed to be friend of any people of the book as long as they are righteous and we are not inlfluenced by them against our deen Islam. I never agree with brother Abu-Nusaibah's idea -" Not taking disbelievers as friends is firmly a part of Islam and no Muslim should do so. " - this is his wrong idea. However, I support him in his claim that jews/christians will go to hell if they die upon kufr. Let me explain first. In Islam, with repentance before death, every sin is forgiveable by Allah(all-Merciful) but without repentance before death, every sin is forgiveable except ONE sin - SHIRK. Homo-sexuality is a GREAT sin but it is not "The" sin in Islam , SHIRK is "THE" sin in Islam - the GREATEST sin. Allah will neverever forgive anybody who dies with shirk. Therefore, any type of Moshrekin, the christians and the hendus etc will go to hell if they die believing in what they believe. This is CRYSTAL-CLEAR in Islam, if some of you so-called muslims dont like it - thats your issue but dont try to deny or hide it from non-muslims. Jews are not moshrekin but whoever dont accept the last two Messengers of God - Jesus and Mohammad(peace be upon them), deserves to go to hell. By Koran, there are some righteous good jews but majority are transgressor, cursed and changed scriptures.

Why is everyone bashing on brother Abu Nusaybah ? All he said is you will go to hell if you die upon Kufr. Tell me what is wrong with this? He also said if you are a kafir you are hell bound (unless you accept Islam), tell me what is wrong with that ? And please provide evidence ... and no your common sense is NOT evidence because now a days common sense is not that common.

In any case as Abu Nusaybah said study in Arabic preferably from someone and understand the text properly in its right context. Then make a decision if you agree with the text or not....

I agree with Abu Nusaybah that we should not offer excuses, and NEVER take Quranic text out of its original context and re-interpret to fulfill our desires.......

All I have to say to all Muslims is "fear Allah alone" please brothers; no one can harm you or benefit you other than him... so stop making excuses.

It is a good article , however, Not very good translation of the verse 5:51 in the article !! The arabic word ' awlia ' here in the sura means that you support non muslim in fighting against muslims or tell them secrets of muslims etc .... .. it does not mean " friend" .

The correct translation of the verse is: [O you who believe! Do not take Jews and Christians as your PATRONS. They are patrons of their own people. He among you who will turn to them for patronage is one of them. Verily Allah guides not a people unjust.] (Al-Ma'dah 5: 51)

In his Tafsir, (Qur'an exegesis) Imam Ibn Kathir has mentioned that some scholars say that this verse was revealed after the Battle of Uhud when Muslims had a set back. At that time, a Muslim from Madinah said, "I am going to live with Jews so I shall be safe in case another attack comes on Madinah." And another muslim said, "I am going to live with Christians so I shall be safe in case another attack comes on Madinah.". This is why (according to Ibn-Kathir), Allah had revealed this verse reminding the believers that they should not seek protection from others (jews/christians), but they should seek protection ONLY from Allah and protect eachother . (See Ibn Kathir, Al-Tafsir, vol. 2, p. 68)

So, brother ' Tarkan Sevelin ', even though you decleared in your comment that you are not sure of this verse and you will do research on it later, you were already in the right direction as you had assumed that there could be a reason or event behind this verse which is not included in the translation. Indeed , Ibn Kathir confirms your assumption. Good thinking Tarkan !

Thanks for your post brother Abu Nusaybah, I appreciate your response to Tarkan, but some people has already put a challange to your idea :- " Not taking disbelievers as friends is firmly a part of Islam and no Muslim should do so. " ; that is ; if your idea is correct, then why does Islam allow a Muslim man to marry jew/christians

I think you need to do some research yourself. First of all, Christians and Jews are not kaffir, they are "People of the Book". The Qu'ran goes to great lengths to make this distinction.

Secondly, if you cannot befriend a Christian or a Jew, how can you be permitted to marry one? Or is a wife not considered a friend, but some sort of concubine?

Thirdly, who are you to say who is hell-bound and who is not? Or are we now like the Children of Israel, who think that Allah's pleasure is their birthright? How do you know you are not hell-bound? How do I? You sound like one of those evengelists who tell everyone they see to accept Jesus or they are going to Hell. How do you feel about those people? Why not go through life trying to be an example of compassion and mercy like the Prophet did, rather than usurping Allah's right and assigning people Heaven or Hell?

If Muslims had not befriended me, I would have had no opportunity to become a Muslim. Yes, we should want everyone to turn to Islam, but people like you want people like to me to totally abandon everyone in their lives, label them kaffirs and expect to go to Jannah based on that. That's really horrible daw'ah, and if you are appraoching everyone in this life with a label based on what particular creed they are holding to at that particular moment, it is probably best that you do avoid them lest you destroy the light of Islam before them.

Everyone was born a Muslim, and everyone has the potential to return to it. Muhhamad (saws) did not treat people as if they were Hell-bound pieces of garbage the way some of you talk. He showed them the beauty of his behavior and won them with kindness.

if we cannot befriend jews and christians, then how will they know our religion and behaviour. there are many many christians i know who converted only because they befriended muslim people, they loved the religion because of their friends' behaviour, and finally converted. We cannot just say, these people are going to hell, so we donot talk to them, or befriend them, because both them and us can get good out of the friendship, they can convert, or at least stop doing wrong things they used to do, and this is good for us as well, since we will be rewarded for telling them. Only Allah knows who is going to hell, and who to heaven, since heaven is so hard to achieve. So we try our best, and let our friends, muslim friends, christian friends,jewish friends, bodist friends, hindo friends,... know the right way as well. May Allah show us and them the right way. Allah forbids us friendships that bring bad to us, not friendships that are good to both us and our friends.

abu nusaybah. salam. the verses clearly state that a muslim does not befriend those who fight against islam. the rest are ok. it is only right that taking such friends they could have ulterior motives and create mischieve in society (fitnah). if our faith is strong, we can befriend whoever and influence them instead of being influenced by them since that would be weakness of faith. we are allowed to marry them and eat what they eat according to quran. as for you declaring others to go to hell just because they are not like you then you seem to assume the role of God in deciding who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. i am not sure if we should be judges of such divine wisdom. be good and leave such issues to God for his mercy preceeds his judgement. judge not lest you be judged. judgement belongs to God.

Please be advised that you need to do a bit more research on this topic, preferably in Arabic. There is a distinct difference between treating jews and christians kindly and justly and taking them as friends! Not taking disbelievers as friends is firmly a part of Islam and no Muslim should do so. That does not mean that we are intolerant. We can treat them kindly and justly but those are outward actions only! Inwardly we must never lose sight of the fact that they are disbelievers and daily insult God thru their shirk and kufr! Now I realize alot of Muslims feel under pressure to defend Islam, or apologize, or protect themselves while they feel vulnerable in western and non Muslim lands, but please do not mislead Muslims about the details of their aqeedah and minhaj. The kufaar are not going to like us or be fully comfortable with us as long as we are Muslim and they are not. Nor are we going to like them or be fully comfortable with them as long as they are kuffaar! We live alongside them in peace and justice but every time we look at them we should wish and hope that they would become Muslims. Our interaction wth them should be towards that goal. We should never allow the current climate between Muslims and the kuffaar make us start saying or,whats worse,believing that its o.k. to be a kaafir. Its not o.k. They will go to hell if they die upon kufr. That's what we believe. And you don't take someone who is hell bound as a friend. Nor should you allow your children to do so because they could be corrupted. That's the truth and you know it brother. Now if you want to try to fool the kuffar thats one thing. I don't think its necessary or the rightthing to do. We don't have to apoligize for believing what Allah and his Messenger have said. Nor should we hide it,or try to re-inerpret it,or apologize for it. Its the truth. Lets focus on delivering the real message of Islam. They need it. Trying to water it down is the ultimate sign of weakness, or ignoranc

According to my understanding of learning Islam, we muslims may befriend any people of the book as long as they are not enemy of Islam & muslims and as long as they are not evildoers. Some suras and verses of holy Koran are due to a particular event which took place at that time and those suras & verses are a response from Allah(subhanautaala) due to that event. So any muslim can easily misunderstand those suras and verses only reading the translation of it if he/she doesnt know (or read) the event for which that particular verses and sura was revealed.

For exemple, when I was reading translation of sura Rum first time, I thought the sura kinda glorifies the greek nation !!! As a turkish person myself I was surprised, it didnt make sense to me ha..ha..ha lol . I misunderstood the sura completely becuz I read only the translation of that sura. But later when I read the story or event between Greeks & Persians for which the sura was revealed, then it made complete sense to me. I realised how I misunderstood the sura so much by reading only the translation... I realised the sura was not referring to greeks of all time at all, it was only referring to those particular greeks during the battle with Persians. My point is we should try to find the context of the verse mentioned in this article. I personally think this verse does not refer to jews and christians of all time and all places ... ... I am not sure though, I will try to find out soon. However, one thing I am daaamn sure :- a muslim should neverever befriend a zionist. Zionists are the NUMBER ONE enemy of Islam & muslims till the day of judgement. When I say 'zionist' , I dont mean only the jews, I include christian zionists too. Believe it or not, christian zionists are 5 times more evil zionist than jewish zionists are. Most christian zionists of the world happens to be american. Zionists of SHIRK are more enemy of Islam and muslims than jewish zionists are.

the quran is clear, first don't befriend those who fight you, seconddly there are good followers of the books the torah and injiil, if you regonise those good ones, you can befriend them and have relationship with them, thirdly respect mankind and we made you into nations and tribes so you may know about each other, the quran is clear, O you who believe don't befriend the enemy of allah those are visible and noticeable such as the isreali goverment, President bush's administration, Tony blairs government to name few, does that mean their whole nation and people are islamic enemy, no, read those verse that tell you about some of the people of books, those ayaats are useable for the islamic leaders, finnally for muslims, follow and quran and don't you make your own translation, follow and understand as it has been said, so can muslims befriends with jews and christians, yes if they earn our respect and if they are good ones,

In this short and succinct article, he has cleared the misconceptions regarding who to befriend and who not to befriend according to the Qu'ran. Also, the lesson to learn is to read and understand the whole Qu'ran in its proper context and not bits and pieces.

as salaam alaikum, you quoted taking part of the book and leaving off of the rest , yet the same happen here. The Qu'ran as we all know is a mercy to mankind and there is a healing in it for every sickness. Allah not only deal with individual but also collectively when dealing with other faith we have to deal with each and everyone as an individual because not everyon believe the same ie, the regular christian have slightest clue about what they subscribe too. If you ask them they will tell you that they found thier forefathers following this way...

Allah says in the Qu'ran who is worse of created beings are those the create a lie agains Allah . some people claim that Allah has a son or the angels are daughters of Allah and they called themselves Jews or Christian ... so I don't think that you can just quote from Qu'ran and say the can we or can we not befriend the people of the book ...another note one of ayat you used has an abrogation there is a second part to that ayat about Jews, Christian, that believes in Allah will have no fear ....

the sad thing here is that where is the Understanding of the Sahibis, about this issue how did they deal with people of the book, or should I say how did Prophet Muhammad deal with them?

God created us all. He knows more than we'll ever know. Aren't theses verses true? Are not the evil of the others allying against muslims? Causing death and destruction in the land, then blame the muslims and unleash a retaliation to cause more death and destruction.Yet they argue this verse. Now the non-evil non-muslims don't practice this conspiracy. They know better. Maybe they truly want to be the way Jesus phuh and Moses pbuh were, and wanted them to be. Muslims aren't against those who do no harm to muslims in their homeland. After all, muslims have the freedom and right to live happily in their own countries untouched by foreign military and zionistic fanaticism and zionistic terrorism. If you leave muslims alone, maybe they'll leave you alone.

How brilliantly prescient was the quran, these Quranic verses have never been more relevant then right now.

I have seen countless westerners, be they media personalities, Christian apologists or of Jewish persuasion, use 5;51 to "prove" how intolerant and prejudiced Islam is. The current war on Islam (a cigar is a cigar) illustrates the point the verse was bringing across. Christian and Jewish forces have joined together in their effort to annex Muslims lands, take over their resources, promote 'Islamic reformation'( a clever term for casting aside your Islamic identity and relegating your faith to weekly discussions in Sunday school), and during all of this, hundreds of thousands of people are dying. The spineless few who have proclaimed their allegiance to Christians and Jews like the Saudis, Mubarak, and Abdullah of Jordan have stuck their ugly faces in the sand and are intoxicated with their lust to stay in power. These .. who suffer from abject cowardice, are repudiated by the Islamic people, but the west consider them progressive, modern, reformed, an ideal template for all Islamic leaders to follow (seems like 'the west' live in a perpetual 'opposite day"). Anyone care to compare these Quranic verses with a few lines from the Talmud, or am I opening a can of worms here?

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